Andre Villas-Boas was key to Tottenham finally clinching a permanent deal for Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor.

Adebayor risked killing the deal by demanding the £5million transfer fee was paid straight to him, which angered City and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.

But Villas-Boas kept in contact with the player, ­reassuring the striker he was desperate to have him at Spurs. Eventually the texts prompted a breakthrough, as Adebayor dropped his ­demands and accepted around half the £5m fee as a pay-off.

A source close to ­Adebayor told the Sunday Mirror: "Villas-Boas was very good with Ade. He made sure he knew he was wanted. If it had not been for Villas-Boas making contact, Ade could well have dug his heels in."